Read Online The Things I Do For You by Mary Carter - Free Book Online

Culture.” Brad didn’t put anyone up on a pedestal. Ironic, because Bailey always held him up on one and he didn’t seem to mind that. And, she had to admit, it was Brad that Allissa was interested in, not her. That was life, wasn’t it? Here Brad couldn’t care less about the Fairytalers, and like cats who fling themselves all over the one animal hater in the room, they’d launched themselves on him. She linked arms with him, still humming with happiness at the prospect of hanging out in the penthouse with their new friends. Maybe she and Allissa would get pregnant at the same time and spend nine months reassuring each other that their asses were not too big.
    “What are you thinking about?” Brad said. It startled Bailey. They used to ask each other that every five minutes, when they were first in love. It had been a long time since he’d asked her that.
    “My ass,” Bailey said.
    “What?” Brad laughed, slipped his hand down, and rubbed her butt. “Funny,” he said. “Me too.”
    Bailey laughed and slapped his hand away. She hoped he would put it back. He didn’t. “What do you mean we have wheels?” she asked.
    “I have Olivia’s car,” Brad said. Bailey just stared at him. An image of the Cadillac, smashed like an accordion, rose to mind.
    “The Cadillac?”
    “Of course not. Turns out Olivia had a second car.”
    “Olivia had a second car?”
    “Are you just going to repeat everything I say?” Brad hugged her to him and kissed her cheek. He was alive. He smelled good. He sounded good. He was back. Right? His worldview hadn’t really changed. That’s just something one said to celebrities at cocktail parties. “Come on,” Brad said. “I’ll explain everything in the car.”
     
    Bailey felt light-headed as she stood and stared at the car. She was giddy. She felt slightly ashamed of herself, but she couldn’t help it, she was downright giddy. Aunt Olivia had a second set of wheels all right, a brand-new Jaguar. Well, a five-year-old Jaguar, but from the new-car smell and mileage, it looked as if Olivia had driven it straight off the lot and into her garage, and that was it. Bailey couldn’t get over it. Olivia Jordan owned a sleek, black Jaguar. This was the same woman who wore tall white gym socks with her sandals. It just didn’t seem possible.
    “This is unbelievable,” Bailey said.
    “There’s more,” Brad said.
    “More cars?”
    “No, silly. Not more cars. But Aunt Olivia was loaded,” Brad said. Bailey stared at her husband.
    “Olivia had a gun?” she said.
    “A gun?” Brad threw his head back and laughed. “Moola, baby,” he said. “Aunt Olivia had tons of moola.”
    “She did not.”
    “She did.”
    “How?” What, where, when, why? Bailey couldn’t get any of the words out of her mouth.
    “Ready for this?”
    “No,” Bailey said. “But hit me.”
    “Funny you should say that,” Brad said. “Turns out Olivia had a secret life.”
    “Out with it.”
    “Olivia was a poker shark.”
    “No.”
    “She played online, she played in groups, she played in tournaments.”
    “No.”
    “And she was good. Very, very good.”
    “No.”
    “You can’t keep saying that.”
    “Aunt Olivia. Your aunt Olivia.”
    “My aunt Olivia.”
    “And she never told you?”
    “I mean, I’d seen a deck of cards about her place, but she would never even have a game with me.”
    “I wonder why.”
    “I think she wanted to keep up a role-model image of herself. You know. To make up for Mom.”
    “Wow.” Bailey was ashamed of herself for judging Olivia. Maybe if Bailey had been a little nicer, Olivia would have liked her. She would have invited her to play poker. Why hadn’t the old broad ever taken them for a spin in the Jag? They could’ve been the best of pals.
    And why didn’t she spend her winnings while she was alive? Because she was from the Rainy Day Generation. Bailey couldn’t remember Olivia ever giving them a single gift. She sent cards instead, filled